Wow.
Two chapters in one night.
I know I'm shocked too ;P
This chapter is for my friend 10, who asked me to post it now :D
I do not own Percy Jackson, otherwise Juliet would be a real character not an OC.
Nico is leading forward in his chair, hands clutching at the armrests. There's something akin to horror on his face, one that's echoed in the rest of their expressions as well. Annabeth is still having trouble breathing properly; she finds that she can't tear her eyes away from the screen, watching the bar against Juliet's throat is jerked upwards, causing the girl to gag and gasp for air.
She had know that Juliet going missing could only mean something bad had happened - but not like this, never like this. And all at once, even though it's selfish to be thinking this right now, Annabeth feels useless, a failure. They'd know that Kronos had made a comeback again. Since Annabeth was already already taken once, of course Juliet would be a target.
The closest to Percy always are.
"It seems that I got a new grandchild while I was gone, rotting in Tartarus. Jackson now has a little sister-" and for someone reason the word strikes Kronos as hilarious, because he laughs for several seconds before he can continue. When he does, the humor is gone in his voice, replaced with a sudden, righteous fervor, dropping down to a level of deadly calm, speaking just loudly enough so that the camera will pick it up over the chocked noises Juliet is making.
She is trying to say something. Kronos notices this and he removes the metal bar - which Annabeth recognizes as a crowbar - from the girl throat. Juliet gasps for air, coughing raggedly before she manages to speak.
"Percy might be like Luke, but he is NOTHING like you! Let me go before I get out and kick you ancient ass!" she shouts, and Annabeth feels a sinking sensation in her stomach. If there's ever been a time that Juliet's stubbornness may get her killed, it's now. Judging from the groan that Thalia let's out she is thinking the same thing.
Kronos walks around to the side of the chair, twirling the crowbar in the other hand. The other one comes to rest on Juliet's head where it strokes the girl's hair. Juliet pulls back from the touch as if burned.
"Feisty and loyal!" the Titan crows, and then he smacks Juliet across the face with the back of his hand. It makes a sharp cracking noise, and the girl's head whips to the side.
Jason is on his feet immediately, fists raised, while Nico cry Juliet's name. Annabeth finds herself exchanging a look of utter hopeless with Thalia. Something on the huntress gaze scares her - perhaps the truth of what's happening, of what she's realizing none of them can stop - and she looks away before gently forcing Jason to sit down.
Juliet raises her head defiantly, revealing a red mark standing out on the pale skin of her cheek. Kronos regards her for a moment before addressing the camera once more.
"It's time to someone cut Jackson down to size again." he says. "It's time to remind him that he is just as vulnerable as the others. I'll do that... By taking someone from him."
Kronos backs up from the camera, and that crowbar is twirling in his hand again. Juliet tracks it's movements warily as it rests on the titan's shoulder, cocked like a baseball bat. He bands over until his face is level with Juliet's.
"Now, girly." he says, sounding for all the world that he is talking to a friend and not a hostage. "I've got a question for you. I want you think long and hard before answering."
"Will it make a difference?" Juliet drawls, voice dripping with sarcasm. Thalia hisses a word that sounds like 'stupid'.
Kronos pauses before shrugging. "Not really."
Juliet scoffs, lip curling as the titan slides an arm around her shoulders, leaning closer as if they're conspirators in some grand scheme together. "Now tell me... Why do you still fight? I have seen your fate, Fray. There is no reason to fight as a pawn of the gods."
Juliet is silent, for a moment Annabeth thinks she's going to be to stubborn to play along. But then she answers, speaking with such honesty and faithfulness that Annabeth has to clench her eyes shut against the sudden wave of anguish that washes over her.
"Because the I've got something to fight. Something that no one will take from me without a battle. None of the sides has won yet, the war is not over. And I'm going to be there until it is, until they are all safe. It doesn't matter how many fall, new heroes will always be there to carry on."
Kronos only stares at the girl. His arm drops away from Juliet's shoulders, and he tapping the crowbar against his shoulder.
"What-?" Juliet starts, but then the crowbar strikes her across the face.
Juliet isn't given a chance to recover before Kronos bashes her again, jerking her head to the other side. She lets out a pained gasp which she quickly stifles. No other sound escapes from her, even as the bar slams into her face a third, fourth, fifth time.
On the sixth blow, there's a dull crunching noise, and it's all Annabeth can do to keep herself from lashing out at something. There's no one to hit, no one to fight. All she can do is watch, and she wants to look away but her eyes are fixed on the screen, even when Juliet is obscured by Kronos' back and she can see are the girl's feet as they twist and writhe against the ropes binding her to the chair. Hearing it is enough - the leaden sound of metal hitting flesh. Juliet's determined silence. And Kronos laughter rigs above it all, shrill and piercing and maniacal.
All of them are frozen, and she really has never seen Nico so still, watching as his girlfriend is tortured before him and unable to do anything. Someone's growling with rage, at first Annabeth thinks it's Jason, but Jupiter's son is dangerously silent and she realizes that it's Thalia.
After several minutes, the crowbar begins to come back bloody.
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